Arizona Supreme Court limits DUI law on taking blood samples

The Arizona Supreme Court says police can’t have blood samples taken from an unconscious DUI suspect without having a search warrant or facing urgent circumstances beyond the natural dissipation of alcohol in blood.

The Arizona ruling Thursday weighed the constitutionality of a state law allowing warrantless blood draws in suspected DUI cases in which a driver is dead, unconscious or otherwise incapable of refusing to grant permission.

The Arizona court says its decision tracks a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on warrantless blood draws from DUI suspects.

The decision says the law still can apply under so-called “exigent circumstances” but not in the case of a man whose blood was sampled after a 2012 crash.

The court sent his case back to trial court to consider another legal issue.

Social

Check Also

The Arizona Department of Corrections on Tuesday said it would immediately triple the number of free sanitary napkins it automatically provides each month to female inmates as it works to head off a Democratic proposal in the Legislature to provide unlimited free tampons, pads and other feminine hygiene products.